IVR systems have been used to interact with callers for various purposes. Most IVR systems present a menu of items for a caller to pick an item. The menu is presented as a sequence of audio messages to the caller. Typically, the caller presses the keys of a telephone, or other input device, to communicate with the IVR systems.
Audio messages from the IVR systems provide callers with information and further prompt the callers to enter data or to make selections from a variety of choices. One example of such an audio message is: “for choice A, press one; for choice B, press two; for choice C, press three . . . ”. If the number of choices is large, it may be necessary to present the choices in more than one menu. In that case, the final part of the message prompts the caller to provide a particular input in order to receive an additional message that lists other choices (e.g. “Press nine to hear more options”). Callers navigate through IVR systems by providing appropriate input in response to each message in order to get to the next desired message or to select a desired choice.
A disadvantage of IVR systems to date is that, as the functionality (i.e. number of choices) of the system increases, the number and complexity of the prompt messages increases. In some instances, it may become very difficult for a caller to navigate through an IVR system to a desired choice. IVR systems to date do not adequately address the problem of increasing system functionality without appreciably increasing the difficulty of use. In particular, it may be very difficult to navigate through a Web page converted to an audio format using above IVR systems where the menus are effectively limited to ten choices per menu.
A further disadvantage of IVR systems to date is that a caller must look at the telephone keypad, hunt for the right key, and then press it in order to select a menu item. For a caller who is using a wireless telephone, this involves removing the handset from his/her ear and then looking at the keypad and pressing the correct key. This can be cumbersome, especially if the caller is driving at the same time. Furthermore, immediately after pressing a key selection, further instructions may be issued by an IVR system, which may be missed by a caller as he/she may be putting their handset back to his/her ear.